GIDDINGS, Texas — When they toe the start line and the countdown reaches zero, a group of track athletes at Giddings High School starts their afternoon run.
These athletes are looking for a relationship with running, a relationship that'll let them find the best versions of themselves and a relationship that'll connect their bodies and their minds.
Lucky for them, they're learning from one of the best running minds in Central Texas in Coach James Ortiz, who was a former all-conference runner at Texas State University.
"My school record translates for 1,500 (meter) somewhere to maybe like a 4:06 mile," he said.
Yet Ortiz's relationship with running wasn't always rosy.
"I hit low points. Low, low points," he said.
In fact, it turned rocky in 2006, just before the second semester of his senior year.
"[It was] supposed to just be another day. I was taking summer school, first day of summer school, going to class on my bicycle and everything just changed," he said.
Ortiz saw a garbage truck approaching head on.
"He turned into me. He turned into me. And I could see that he didn't see me. It's like the steepest hill in San Marcos," he said.
Ortiz was riding on the wrong side of the road because it had more space.
"In San Marcos, in my time, roads are not biker friendly. You try to stop, skid, go under the truck," he said. "And when I came to, I actually thought I made it through the accident. I woke up, no scratches on my hands, I looked over, my leg is just fine. I start to get excited. And then I see my leg in the distance and it clicks. Like, the worst thing that could've ever happened to me just happened to me."
Ortiz lost his right leg because of the accident and temporarily lost his ability to run.
"Running is my life and now running is taken from me. So, I'm alive but I'm not alive. Like, how is this possible? Spent a few days down there, and then you realize you don't want to be down there," he said.
Soon, he began to climb his way out, and an unlikely source helped him get back on his feet.
"James was an animal," prosthetist Kevin Kimbell said. "When you put him on the roads, he could hang with just about anybody."
Kimbell, a former track athlete at the University of Texas, recalled the day of the accident.
"His doctor calls me and says, 'I have this young gentleman here who's probably going to lose his leg. Would you mind talking to him?' I said, 'Yeah, what's his name?' And he said, 'James Ortiz,'" said Kimbell.
"I remember waking up in the hospital and the first person that I saw was someone that I competed against," Ortiz added.
From enemies to allies, Ortiz and Kimbell worked together and turned their focus to a singular goal.
"As a runner, knowing what that means to him, I understood that internally already. This is where I have to get with this guy and we have to do whatever we can," Kimbell said.
Ortiz began to put one foot in front of the other.
"It took me like a year again before I could walk without crutches," he said.
Kimbell refused to rest until he designed the perfect prosthetic.
"As we went through the fitting process, we tried different things on him. 'Hey, this didn't work, this worked, this didn't work, this worked,'" he said.
Six years later, Ortiz ran for the first time since the accident, and a newfound relationship with the sport was born.
"The reality is, I never want to forget what happened. Ever. If I can come back from being down there, I can overcome anything," he said.
In 2015, Ortiz set the American record in the 1,500-meter race for below-the-knee amputees.
He's since hung up the spikes, trading competition for coaching.
He's helping high school athletes discover a relationship with running – a relationship that, for 17-year-old Grace Fromme, has been everything.
Just like Ortiz, she's running to recover.
"I got a special sling that keeps my arm attached to me so it doesn't move around and everything," she said.
Fromme explained what happened to her on Dec. 21, 2020.
"I was on a family vacation snow skiing. Me and my brother went up for one more run down the slope," she said.
She was unable to avoid a group of people in her path.
"I tried to dodge them. Ended up full-on tackling them. After I tackled them, it basically broke some nerves in my neck. I had no recollection of my arm. My arm is paralyzed now," she said.
Fromme, a highly-touted softball recruit, was forced to give up playing. So, she turned to running and to a coach who could empathize.
"I think of the things that helped me," Ortiz said.
"If you need something, I'm here. If you need something, I'm here," Fromme said in regard to her conversations with Ortiz.
"You have someone close, who's gone through something close, and I'm here for you," Ortiz added.
They're two people who have found a relationship with running. It's their relationship with each other that's helping them heal.
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